15-year-old Josephine Parker just wanted to seek shelter in the old warehouse. Instead, she unwillingly overheard something she shouldn't have and therefore crosses the path of the Marini family. A family known for making people 'gone' and whose b...
'Seriously?' he thought as he came closer to the huddled figure on the ground. The dwarf didn't seem to notice that he had been found. As if hypnotized, he stared at the water and at the same time pressed himself tightly against the wall. Only unlocking the weapon brought him out of his trance. Fearful eyes looked at Domenico, then became blank, as if all life had already disappeared from them. At that moment Domenico noticed something: it wasn't a dwarf, it was a boy. Fuck, that was still a child! What was a child doing in this area at that time? The boy certainly wasn't any older than 14! He couldn't kill a child. Hard No-Go. However, he could only think of one other alternative and he wasn't sure if it was that much better. But what should he do? He didn't see any other solution popping off. "Go ahead.", he ordered the boy and pressed his gun into his back as he pushed him out of the hall. He didn't miss how the boy tried to keep as much distance as possible from the water.
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"Domenico, I hope you have a good explanation for why this boy is standing here in our living room and dripping on the floor," Vito told his brother, but was looking at the boy. He was small, must have been quite young, and was shivering in his wet clothes. He hadn't quite seen his face yet because it was fixed on the floor in front of him but he suspected it was just as dirty as the clothes he was wearing.'What was this boy doing here?' He looked questioningly back at his brother, who was staring at him intently.'Long stories that I have to tell you alone.', spoke Domenico's eyes.'I really hope that it justifies why you brought someone from outside into our home!', Vito answers him, still not appeased.
"I'm sorry Mr. Marini." The boy interrupted the silent conversation between the two of them and Domenico wondered how young this boy really was if his vocal change had not yet happen. Instead, Vito looked into bright eyes that looked at him briefly before looking back at the ground. He didn't have to ask what the boy meant; there were enough reasons; but he felt pity for the child. It was a classic case of wrong place at wrong time. "What's your name, boy?" Vito asked with a sigh.
"Joseph, sir," he answered somewhat hesitantly and wrapped his arms around his upper body.
"Okay Joseph, first you'll go take a shower and we'll get you something dry to wear. Afterwards we'll talk. And don't even think about doing anything stupid, we'll find out one way or another," Vito decided and pointed to one of the people to lead employee Joseph into one of the bathrooms. "Give him something from Matteo, that should suit him best."
Thank God the younger brothers were abroad at the time and wouldn't be aware of this whole situation. There was a silent agreement between Domenico and Vito to keep their brothers out of everything as much as possible, which they largely succeeded in doing. Of course they knew what the two were doing and they received a certain amount of training, but only to be able to protect themselves when the elders couldn't't. This was the main reason why nothing regarding their work was allowed to be taken home. The only thing in this house that had anything to do with their work was their office on the ground floor; everything else was located within the city.
"So?", he asked Domenico with a raised eyebrow once the boy left. While Domenico recapitulated the past events, Vito continued to think about what they should do now. He agreed with his brother; they couldn't harm the boy, but for some reason he didn't want to send him back out onto the streets. The night would be cold and from the looks of the boy it would mean his death. "Let's talk to him first and find out what he knows and how trustworthy he seems to be."
Domenico nodded. He didn't have a good feeling about letting Joseph back out on the street, too. Exhausted, he collapsed onto the sofa and took a piece of bruschetta, Maria had serve on the table in front them. He put his weapon on the table; even if they didn't want to hurt the boy, a little intimidation couldn't be too wrong. Vito also sat down, declined the food offered but asked for tea for the three of them.
"Since when have you been drinking tea?" his brother mocked.
"Since you're going to drink it too. Do you think I haven't noticed that you're shivering too?" Vito looked at him sideways. "I would be delighted if you would change into dry clothes too."
Domenico waved his hand. "Thanks, but for me personally, your delight is my misery. And save yourself what you want to say. The last time I checked, you were still less than a year older than me."
Vito was tempted to snort, but he knew it would only satisfy Nico. "Well I would've been if you would have stayed as long in Mums womb as you should've. Why do you always have to be so stubborn?", he mumbled angrily, but Nico just gave him an air kiss and continued to eat.
The boy came back into the living room at the same time as Maria and, when asked, took a seat in front of the two brothers. This seemed to become even smaller under the piercing gaze of the brothers. His blonde hair was still a little wet, which looked very much like he had cut it himself, and his clothes were way too big for him. His face almost seemed to be hollow without any hope at all. He looked more miserable than Vito had imagine.
"So Joseph, we have a few questions and I would appreciate it if you answered them honestly and looked at me. How old are you?" Vito asked nevertheless. 'Something is strange,' thought Domenico as he looked at Joseph. He couldn't tell what it was, just something about him made him suspicious.
"Fifteen, sir," the boy replied. Vito continued to interrogate him about the night's events, always asked him the same question in a different way to see if Joseph would stumble, but just as Domenico had already suspected, he hadn't seen anything significant.
"You will understand that your presence poses a certain problem for us," Vito began and Joseph became even smaller if possible. He looked fearfully at the gun and then up at Domenico. Vito continued without paying any attention to his reaction. "If you promise not to tell anyone about this evening, then you can sleep here tonight and tomorrow we will call someone to take you back home to your parents or whoever is respo-.""No!" Joseph interrupted him, terrified. "I-I'm sorry that's not possible, Sir."
"Well I'm sure whatever the reason you ran away, we'll be able to sort it out." Vito tried to assure him without much success. Furthermore the boy started to panic more and more.
"No, Sir. I can't go back there. Just let me go and I promise you'll never hear from me again. Really, I'll be fine and if you want I'll leave town right now. You'll never see me again must see, just let me go!" The child looked pleadingly at the two men. "Please." Tears began to fall followed by uncontrolled sobs.
Vito looked briefly at his brother, who was just as surprised at this outburst as he was. Sure teenagers could be dramatic but this was a quite concerning reaction. "We'll talk about it tomorrow. You'll have to realize you can't live on the streets all by yourself. You're a child for Gods sake! I'll call CPS tomorrow and-" Then something happened that neither of them had anticipated: with an astonishing speed the child reached for the gun on the table, cocked it, held it to his head and pulled the trigger.
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Hello again!
Thank you for reading the chapter and I hope you enjoyed it. If you notice any grammar or spelling mistakes, please let me know. Times in particular are not my strength 😇
Anyway: whats your opinion and your first impression of the three?☺️
